In cellular networks, there is a tradeoff between base station transmit power and interference. The greater the transmit power, the better the service and effective range provided to UEs connected to the transmitting base station. However, greater transmit power may cause interference to UEs being serviced by other base stations. When one base station within a network transmits at high power, it can create interference, and thus adversely affect performance for UEs being serviced by nearby base stations.
Typically, decisions to increase transmit power are made on a UE by UE basis without regard to how a decision to increase power will affect neighboring base stations. This typically happens when a UE tells its servicing base station that its signal-to-noise ratio is not good enough for the data rate it needs. In response, the base station typically increases transmit power. Thus, when a base station increases transmit power, it typically does so in response to metrics it receives only from UEs within its coverage area. Its decision making perspective is accordingly limited. In this limited world, each base station may autonomously decide to increase its power, but when there is no consideration as to how this power increase will affect neighboring cells, these power increases can become a free-for-all, which may have a deleterious overall effect on the network. There is, therefore, a need to harmonize power increase and decrease decisions on a wider scale.